It was a blustery day on Lake LBJ May 17th as 135 teams vied for a portion of this 133% payback event. Each team could only weigh three fish, and Tony Ferdinando & Shane Logan left the field in the dust, winning the tournament with 18.57 lbs.

Shane has just retired from the Army, while Tony works for the City of Austin. They have been fishing Bass Champs for several years (between Shane’s deployments), but this year they are able to fish the whole season. “The day started out pretty slow for us, and we got a late boat number – 129,” Shane reported. “When we got to our first hole, we were there with six other boats.” It was a shallow flat with a cut in a big pocket. “We were using crank baits and swim jigs along the edges and drops.” They started their creel with Shane catching their 8.5 lb kicker, then Tony added another keeper to the boat. “We caught another, and had a limit that weighed around 12 pounds. After that we just relaxed, had fun, and went fishing!” The wind was blowing hard in that spot, so they moved to try their luck in other areas. “We went to areas that were similar to see if we could cull up.” They did, increasing their total weight by another six pounds! “By the time we got to the weigh in, there was only two minutes left on the scales.” They took 1st place with their 18.57 lb limit, winning the new Ford F-150 pickup truck, and gained other sponsor bonuses as well. They won the Talon bonus for $500 and the SureLife bonus for another $200. “We’ve worked really hard this year, but we are very aware of the tough anglers we fish against. We did not think we had it. This is really unexpected!”

Donald Dobbs, a new resident to San Antonio from Georgia, fished with his friend Mike Marshall of Georgia to win 2nd place with 16.92 lbs. “We had a great day! We caught three limits of keepers in three areas.” The duo chose swim jigs in shallow water with deep water access in main lake pockets. “In our first area, we caught a 4 ½, a 3, and a five pounder. Out of our second spot we culled our 3 pounder with an 8.10. We were leading the tournament until the last two minutes, and got bumped!” Bass Champs presented the team with a check for $3,500 for their 2nd place win. “This is the first tournament we have fished with Bass Champs. Love the format, the take-off was smooth, the weigh in was smooth – a really great experience. This is a professional, Class-A organization and the best trail I have ever fished. I have already invited another Georgia buddy of mine to fly down and fish the next Bass Champs tournament with in two weeks!”

3rd place was won by Sean Evans and Paul Migas with a 16.71 lb limit. “This was the best day ever. We started in our first spot, a shallow grassy cove, and there was already another boat there. We watched them catch a few then moved to our second spot. “ It was a rocky point with deep water access. “We really worked the area, but only caught small fish.” They had tried using spinnerbaits to no avail, so switched to 10” worms and their luck started changing. “Paul caught a six pounder, and after that we were able to wrap up a limit.” Their day was not quite done, as they boated a 7.14 kicker after that to make their first cull. “We tried to cull our four pounder, but wasn’t able to do that. We weighed in a little early and hoped it would hold up!” They were awarded $2,000 for their 3rd place finish with 16.71 lbs. “We would like to thank Skeeter boats, and Bass Champs staff and crew for putting on great tournaments!”

There were several nice chunks weighed in over the course of the tournament, but Wayne Hall and Sam Stone had the biggest of them all weighing in at 9.53 lbs. They won $500 for that single catch, which anchored a 12th place overall finish for the team. They won $200 for wearing their Costa Del Mar sunglasses on stage when they weighed the fish, and caught another $650 for their 12th place finish.

Dale Read annd Ronnie Maynard doubled their$1,000 10th place winnings being the highest finishing team in a qualified Skeeter boat.
The Ford Bonus was awarded to Jeremy Crews and Jason Jones, giving them free entries into any Bass Champs tournaments for the next 12 months – up to a $5,000 value!

All total eighteen teams enjoyed cash and prizes. The last $500 check was awarded to Dannny Armstrong and Bruce Toeppich with 11.89 lbs.

The next Central Region tournament will be on Lake Belton, June 28. In the meantime Bass Champs will head to Lake Amistad to wrap up the season for the South Region on May 31. For more information on any Bass Champs events, please click to www.BassChamps.com or call 817-439-3274